Poverty sucks, but buying stuff is awesome, so I have mixed feelings about capitalism. However, the first proper record from local ska/punk darlings Have Nots has me reassessing. Food and shelter are dandy, but their scarcity helped inspire the bulk of worthwhile punk rock. So . . . hurray for poverty? Maybe not.

Have Nots are not psyched about poverty, other social injustices, and dudes who used to be punk-rock only to become clean-cut, complacent city-hall employees. None of this disgruntlement keeps them from creating exultant, frenetic ska/punk. Upstroke crazy verses, triumphantly downtrodden choruses, and perky lead-geet bits get the kids two-steppin' — as you might imagine, Serf City is a crusty dance party. Yet it's never sing-songy. The lyrics may teeter on verbosity, but the way Matt Pruitt and Jon Cauztik swap lead vocals offsets them with a conversational pathos.

Serf City's greatest failing, you could argue, is that if you like Operation Ivy, you'll certainly like this. But if you don't like Operation Ivy, well . . . shit, man, what's wrong with you?

Review: DJ Hero Shortly after DJ Hero ’s release, a couple of craiglist ads popped up from gamers claiming they’ll plug in and play the game at your party for $75 — all you have to provide is the TV and the speakers.

Thinking person’s metal Jerky’s Bar continues its hot streak of delivering quality live acts spanning all genres, and next weekend the hardcore metalheads will descend upon Richmond Street for a fistful of metalcore bands, including the much-anticipated return of former Killswitch Engage/Seemless frontman Jesse Leach.

The Flaming Lips | Embryonic If new albums by Super Furry Animals, 50 Foot Wave, and the Flaming Lips are any indication, 2009 is smack in the middle of a new psychedelic age.

OZZY OSBOURNEAnyone who’s ever sat through one those Ozzy solo sets that leads up to a big Black Sabbath climax at an Ozzfest will appreciate the logic of this all-covers disc.

The Cinematics Despite the title of their debut album, it’s unlikely that there was anything particularly strange about the Cinematics’ education.

Review: It Might Get Loud Some guitar teachers will tell you there’s a right way and a wrong way to play the guitar. But Davis Guggenheim’s rousing new documentary, It Might Get Loud, reminds us that that’s not true at all.

Dropping by with an old friend Even before there were festivals like All Tomorrow’s Parties to formalize the concept, Sonic Youth have always given off a curatorial air.

HOW TO DESTROY ANGELS | WELCOME OBLIVION | March 13, 2013 Whereas the monsters and ghosts of NIN songs can scream in your face and rip you to bits with their fangs, Welcome Oblivion tracks like techno-folk haunter "Ice Age" and the doom-pop jaunt "How Long?" make uncredited cameo appearances in your nightmares until you go insane and eat your own hands.

JOHNNY MARR | THE MESSENGER | February 25, 2013 Going solo is rarely a good decision. For every exception to the rule of who flourishes after unburdening themselves of the half-talents that have been holding them back — Justin Timberlake, for one — there are dozens of embarrassing Dee Dee Ramone rap albums that exist because Joey and Johnny Ramone weren't around to kibosh a terrible idea.

WHAT'S F'N NEXT? BUKE AND GASE | January 29, 2013 Almost every person I've told about Buke and Gase assumes that they'll hate this band, which isn't their fault.

BLEEDING RAINBOW | YEAH RIGHT | January 23, 2013 The only defect of the sort-of-but-not-really debut from Bleeding Rainbow (no longer called Reading Rainbow, possibly due to litigious ire festering under LeVar Burton's genial television persona) is that the Philly foursome merely hop off the launching point forged by Sonic Youth, My Bloody Valentine, and a handful of others from the oft-exalted grunge era.